In an interview with WABC-TV, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) called on President Trump to get rid of Steve Bannon. "I think it's important for the president to fire Steve Bannon," King told the ABC affiliate in New York. "He should go." "That to me is exploiting the racial issue," he said of Bannon wanting to use identity politics against Democrats. "That can't be allowed. Also the fact that he is undercutting the President, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State and the head of the National Security Council on North Korea. To me, his time in the White House should be over."

Earlier this week, at a town hall event, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said President Trump doesn't understand how quickly things, or not quickly, the democratic process works. McCONNELL: Our new president — and of course I have been in this line of work before — and I think had excessive expectations about how quickly things happen in the democratic process… Part of the reason I think that the storyline is that we haven't done much is because, in part, the president and others have set these early timelines about things need to be done by a certain point…. Part of the reason I think people feel we're underperforming is because too many kind of artificial deadlines unrelated to the reality and complexity of legislating may not have been fully understood. White House Director of Social Media and Assistant to the President Dan Scavino responded to McConnell on Twitter this morning: 'More excuses. @SenateMajLdr must have needed another 4 years – in addition to the 7 years — to repeal and replace Obamacare…..' More excuses. @SenateMajLdr must have needed another 4 years – in addition to the 7 years — to repeal and replace Obamacare….. https://t.co/6FOVBm6BQUâ€” Dan Scavino Jr. (@DanScavino) August 9, 2017

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) held a lively town hall on Monday where both conservatives and progressives had their voice heard. Meadows received applause when he talked about repealing and replacing Obamacare. He also received applause when he spoke about Medicare for all. However, he said, 'The price tag is just unbelievably high. Now, and so when we're starting to see that, it has to be a tax…' An audience member yelled out: 'On the rich.'

House Speaker Paul Ryan took questions from Republican voters in Wisconsin on Wednesday. Ryan called the Senate's recent health care reform vote 'frustrating.' He also commented on Foxconn's plan to build a massive facility in Wisconsin. One man, who AP reports is a Republican voter who works at a manufacturing plant in a Wisconsin, comments: "For eight horrible years I heard: 'We don't have control of th House, we don't have the Senate, we don't have the presidency.' Okay? And: 'When we get in, we have a plan and we're going to change stuff.' I'll tell you what, you're in there now, and all I see is infighting, it is very dysfunctional." Speaker Ryan said the night before the health care bill failed, he thought it was done, but "one senator flipped his vote." He is presumably referring to Sen. John McCain. "When it went down, it was extremely frustrating," Ryan commented.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer comments on the president's attempts to repeal and replace Obamacare: CHUCK SCHUMER: Stabilizing the individual market is the first thing we should all focus on. The repeated attempts to repeal and replace the health care law, as well as the Administration's threat to stop making the cost-sharing payments that help keep premiums down and keep markets stable — has injected massive uncertainty into the system. Insurers hate nothing more than uncertainty. It drives them to jack up the cost of premiums and pull out of markets. Already, insurers in three states have issued two separate sets of proposed rates for 2018 — one if the Administration makes the cost-sharing payments, and one if they do not. The set of proposed rates if the payments are NOT made is 20% higher in all three states. Two of them are North Carolina and Pennsylvania, very significant states. In Idaho, the state insurance commissioner said that rates on the most popular plans would be 50% higher next year because of "the potential refusal by the federal government to fund the cost share reduction mechanism." That comes from the State Insurance Commissioner. I don't know if that's an elected position, but whether it's elected or appointed, I'd guess he's Republican. They don't elect too many Democrats, out there. Now, the Administration is supposed to announce — today or sometime this week — their decision on whether or not to make the next set of payments. The ball is in the President's court: he can make the payments as the law requires and needs, or he can sabotage our health care system and impose a Trump Premium Tax of 20% higher premiums on the American people next year by not extending the cost-sharing program. Why would he do this? Why would he why would he raise people's rates? Well, his only stated reason is petty, is childish and un-presidential. He'll get back at people because his hope to repeal and replace was rejected. You don't hurt innocent people, Mr. President, when you lose politically. That is not presidential. That is not, frankly, what an adult does.

Rep. Trey Gowdy, new chairman of the House Oversight Committee, grilled the acting WH Drug Policy Office Director Richard Baum about U.S. federal policy regarding drug scheduling last week. Gowdy urged Baum to "consult the powers that be" and begin research to reschedule marijuana as a drug with at least some medicinal benefit. Baum suggests hopefully that "there are component elements of marijuana that could be put through the FDA process and turned into medicines that could help people in this country… we want to do that." According to his Linked-In page, Baum is currently serving as the Acting Director, ONDCP (White House Drug Policy Office). Also on his Linked-In Page, Baum notes: "Richard Baum was named by President Trump as the Acting Director of ONDCP in March, 2017. He has dedicated his career to drug and crime policy issues. He has worked as a Congressional staffer, a writer/researcher, and for the past almost 20 years at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy in various positions. Among the highlights of his career is leading efforts to draft the National Drug Control Strategy in both the Bush and Obama Administrations, and co-chairing work groups that put together the White House Transnational Organized Crime Strategy and the National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy. Separate from his work at ONDCP, Richard is an Adjunct Professor of Public Policy at Georgetown University's McCourt Graduate School, teaching a course entitled: "The War on Drugs: Causes, Consequences, and Alternatives." Before beginning the questioning, Gowdy comments to his mom, if she might be listening, that he is not advocating the legalization of marijuana, per say. Gowdy continued his question: REP. TREY GOWDY: I don't understand why [marijuana is classified by the federal government] as a Schedule One [illegal narcotic, with no medical value]. We treat it as if it is an inherently dangerous substance for which there is no medicial value. It takes a tractor-trailer full of marijuana to even trigger a mandatory minimum under our drug laws. So is there any appetite for researching whether or not it should remain a Schedule One drug? BAUM: Congressman, the administration doesn't have a position on that. I'm happy to dialogue with your office. Let me just say we strongly support research on medical use of marijuana, and if there are obstacles we see that prevent good research, we want to address those obstacles. Because there are component elements of marijuana that could be put through the FDA process and turned into medicines that could help people in this country, we want to do that. There is potential to support — GOWDY: Just so everyone is clear, methamphetamine is scheduled what? BAUM: I believe it is schedule two. GOWDY: Cocaine base is scheduled what? BAUM: Uh, two. GOWDY: So [cocaine and methamphetamine] are scheduled lower than marijuana, and again, you can schedule something and still not have it scheduled as a one. So you can consult powers that be, whoever in the administration you need to consult with, to at least explore whether or not it is scheduled correctly, without being percieved as advocating for legalization. (Video thanks to Amicus Humani Generis on YouTube)

President Trump briefly mentioned the collapse of the Senate GOP's effort to repeal and replace Obamacare Friday afternoon at a speech about MS-13 in Long Island. "We need more resources from Congress and we're getting them," the president said. "Congress is opening up and doing a job." He mentioned: "They should have approved health care last night, but you can't have everything." "Boy oh boy, they have been working on that one for seven years," he continued. "Can you believe that? Seven years!" "The swamp," he explained. "But we'll get it done." He concluded: "We're going to get it done. I said from the beginning: Let Obamacare implode and then do it. I turned tout be right. Let Obamacare implode."

President Trump briefly mentioned the collapse of the Senate GOP's effort to repeal and replace Obamacare Friday afternoon at a speech about MS-13 in Long Island. "We need more resources from Congress and we're getting them," the president said. "Congress is opening up and doing a job." He mentioned: "They should have approved health care last night, but you can't have everything." "Boy oh boy, they have been working on that one for seven years," he continued. "Can you believe that? Seven years!" "The swamp," he explained. "But we'll get it done." He concluded: "We're going to get it done. I said from the beginning: Let Obamacare implode and then do it. I turned out to be right. Let Obamacare implode." His full remarks addressing Obamacare: TRUMP: They should've approved health care last night, but you can't have everything, boy oh boy. They've been working on that one for seven years, can you believe that? The swamp — but we'll get it done. We're going to get it done. You know, I said from the beginning, "Let Obamacare implode, and then do it." I turned out to be right. Let Obamacare implode. Trump tweeted his thoughts on how the Senate should handle it in the future: If Republicans are going to pass great future legislation in the Senate, they must immediately go to a 51 vote majority, not senseless 60…&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017
…Even though parts of healthcare could pass at 51, some really good things need 60. So many great future bills &amp; budgets need 60 votes….&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017

The libertarian Republican congressman from Michigan discusses why Attorney General Jeff Sessions sets of his alarm bells, his plan to reform civil asset forfeiture laws, how to get rid of the Export-Import Bank, and why the internet is poised to kill the two-party system.